“Iced sounds good.” There was another crash coming from my bedroom, making him wince.
“They were going to pick my lock.” I don’t know why I said that. He clearly knew the Ferraro family. He didn’t want to hear anyone talking shit about them.
“What?” he asked, tone going sharp.
“I was debating not answering the door,” I admitted. “But then I heard Ronny ask if Danny could pick the lock.”
“Christ,” Nico said, sighing.
“I figured it might be best to get this part over with.” I was pretty sure he heard what I wasn’t saying: that I wanted to be done with them.
“Don’t be so sure this will be the end of it,” Nico said, pitching his voice for just the two of us.
“But they hate me,” I said, stomach sinking.
“Hey, I don’t think they hate you,” Nico, clearly a good guy, insisted.
“Oh, they hate me. I came to terms with that a long time ago.”
Nico glanced down the hall, then back at me. He was clearly fighting with his loyalties. In the end, he chose diplomacy, not picking sides. “If they can think of a reason to, they will contact you.”
A reason.
It wasn’t a stretch to assume he meant money.
That was the only time Ronny would speak to me directly. And she’d lean heavily on the guilt. “You need to pitch in for Danny’s bail. He’sfamily.” Or “Carol needs money to pay down her medical bills. It’s what family does.”
It was like she dangled the carrot she knew I was starving for. Family. Belonging. Just to get something out of me. Then snatching it right away again.
Of course, I would still be beholden to the Ferraro family. So long as I had what they wanted, they would come knocking.
“Maybe I should move,” I said, glancing around the apartment.
I no longer felt all the hope and joy that I once did when I looked around. Back when I saw kids running down the long hallway, laughter wafting out toward me as I cooked dinner. Or all of us gathered in the living room in matching Christmas PJs. Or gathered around the too-large dining room table with all our loved ones on holidays.
Now, it just felt like a graveyard of lost or abandoned dreams. Who wanted to live amongst the ruins?
“That might help,” Nico agreed. “If you want to move, that is.”
I handed him his coffee and we both took a sip.
I swear I could feel the caffeine surging through my bloodstream, chasing away the exhaustion that had been clinging to me for a week.
When my eyes opened, I caught Nico’s gaze down on my breasts again. When my own followed, I could see my nipples pressing out of the silk material.
For reasons I was choosing not to analyze, though, I didn’t try to cover myself up.
“This is amazing,” Nico said, his voice sounding a little thicker than a moment before.
“It’s my fav—”
“I’m just going to grab some box—Nico!” Ronny said, appearing out of nowhere, making me whip around.
“Ronny,” Nico said, nodding his chin at her.
“When did you… for God’s sake,” Ronny said, wrinkling her nose up at me, “cover up, would you? Have a little class, this is—”
“Ronny,” Nico interrupted. There was a quiet command in his voice. A whole speech in two syllables.
